Annual Ethics & Culture Lecture
The Honors College, with gratitude to the late Dr. Donald (1939-2025) and Judy Schmeltekopf for sponsorship, hosts the Annual Ethics & Culture Lecture. This lecture series addresses publicly relevant topics uniting academic expertise in ethics with a generous-spirited engagement of culture as expressed in film, law, literature, music, politics, religion, and other forms of shared cultural life. Simultaneously, the series highlights the interdependent relation between ethics and culture, regarded from a decidedly Christian perspective, and undergirds renewal of ethically grounded and culturally sound American life.
Joseph Loconte, Ph.D
"War, Friendship, and Imagination: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the Fight for Civilization"
About the Speaker
Joseph Loconte, Ph.D., is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, filmmaker, and director of the Rivendell Center in New York City. His books include God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West (2014), A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918 (2015), and most recently The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945 (2025). Dr. Loconte’s commentary has appeared in both scholarly and popular journals and outlets, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Affairs, the New Criterion, National Public Radio, National Geographic, and National Review. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he divides his time between Washington, D.C., and New York City.